Heat responsive shut-off valve



Dec. 12, 1933. L LovEKm 1,938,967

HEAT RESPONSIVE SHUT-OFF VALVE 1 Luther fl 1 in,

\ (Br W ,3 $400M Patented Dec. 12, 1933 r V v was eerie-i= 938,967" I v HEAT RESPONSIVE SHUT-OFF VALVE- iiuuier n; I idvekfin'. vina- Neva; P'a), a'sslgnor t6- Kitsbr'i Gdmpany; Philadelphia, Pa., a corporatio'n of west virginia Application S ep ten ber- Z 5 19 31 Serial N565 108 5"Ol'aiins (oi. 1237:1615

Thesubject of my invention is a valve which inlet pipe 11. My novel valve, generally indimay be used for shutting off the gas supplyto an cated at 12; is located between the inlet pipe 11 apartment; residence,- shop, store, factory or and-the meter Themeter isalso provided other place of consumption. My novel valve may with'gas-outlet pipe'13; v 5, be convenientlyybut is not necessarily, used in- Referring-now to Figure 1 for-the specific deconjunction with a gas meter.- My v'alve consists tails my'novel' valveconsists' generally of a valve primarily of a movable valve member retained in casing; l5 havingan-inletport 16' and: an outlet open'position by afusibledisk or othermember port'l'l'thereinthe outlet port-l7 having a valve and stressed-to closed position by gravity or by seat 18- adjacent its upper end. Located in V 10 g-ravity anda spring. It is an important featureva-lvewcasing -there is provideda movable-valve o5 ofmy device that the fusible member be helddementia-having atapered faceadapted to attwo portions on opposite sides of that portion cooperate with seat-l8 to close the'valve outlet 17 of the fusible member which is intended to be' and'to-thereby shut off-the gas supply-t0 meter broken when the fusible member melts or is 10-; Movable element 19 iscarried in casing 15 5. shorn and that the fusible member be held on byaguide element 21 which embraces the upper at least two faces at each 'portion. This may bepartvof the movable element 19;: Guide member I accomplished in my device by clamping the fusi- 21 also carries stationarymember22 whichcarble element at its inner periphery on thecasing. ries at its-lower end fusible element 23 which and byclampingthe fusible member on its outer- ,is-shown as consistingof a centrally perforated go-periphery onthe movable element. When fire disk-but'which may conveniently-take any other ocvcursinv th vicinity of the valve-heat is conformsuitableforsupporting the'movable element. ducted-to the fusible element which softens or V Fusible" element 23is-attached'to stationary elemelts and isshornawayunder the weight or ment 22 by means of a nut 24 engaging the rim combined weight and spring pressureon the of'the 'disk surroundingits centralperforation,

.25 movable member and moves to closed position. or in any other convenient manner. Movable;

,Animportant feature vof my invention is the element-19issupportedon fusible-element-23by' provision of guide means for thliiOVflblfQlB- m n f hin 25 whi h has contact o'n its ment whereby it is moved intoaccurate seating lower-face" with'the' outer-portionorrim'of the position to" shut off the valve. fusibleelement 23 and which has screw thread or 40" .For'affdrther exposition'of myilivention' 'refother connection with movableelement 19. It

e e'l ay' had to the'anrieXed' drawings and: is to-benoted that the internal diameter-of 'bushspecification atth'e end whereof y inventioni, ing 25 is slightly greater'than-theexternal diame- W'ill be'specificaily pointed outand-clalmed k ter-of 'stationary-member22sothat movableele- Inf-the diawi'n s; ment-19 falls freely-when fusible element 23 shears meme 1 {is a vertieal cidss sectionofone m'odi m t's 't at being nd t dt it.-:'

fiegti 1 iiiy' vi e; InFiguIeZthereis illustrateda modified for'm Figure 2 is a vertical cross sectiohofahbthtarmy'd v -havm a l t m ts f Fi ure 1 modifi ati n which-perform" equivalent functions and'having Figure 3 is a vertical cross section of a third in addition a spring 26 t pose between guide 4o modification. member 21 and bushing 25 so that movable mem- .Fjgure 4 is Side eievation showing my valve I ber 19 is stressed to valve closed position by gravity as applied to a meter. and by the initial pressure of spring 26. It will, Figure 5 i id le t t parts in crosstherefore, be seen that when fusible member 23 section of another modification softens or melts due to the heat applied thereto 45 Figure 6 is a vertical cross section showing yet the combined forces of the ht of movable another modification, and element 19 and the pressure of pring 26 tend to" Figure '7 is a id ie ith parts b k away shear fusible element 23 and to permit movable of still another modification. element 19 to close outlet 1'7 by seating at 18.

In the embodiment of my invention chosen In Figure 3 there is disclosed a slightly dif- 50 for illustration in the drawings, my device is ferent modification of my valve in which casingshown as used in conjunction with a standard 15 is a plug cock of angular type or it can be a gas meter 10 which forms no portion of my inthree-way plug cock. Casing 15 is provided at vention and which is simply illustrated to show inlet 16 with a seat 118. Casing 15 carries at its the location in which my novel valve is used. upper end an additional stationary member 122 55 Gas meter 10 is supplied with gas through an which supports member 22 in it. Stationary ture it is desired to operate the valve.

member 22 carries at its lower end an internal guide member 121 which passes through an orifice in the movable member 19. Movable element 19 is supported on the fusible element 23 by means of bushing 25. Movable element 19 has beneath the fusible element 23 a cavity 119 which may receive the molten'metal in case the fusible element 23 melts. Guide 121 serves'to locate movable element 19 when it falls so that the movable element closes orifice 118 and thereby shuts off the valve. This is a very important feature as it prevents the plug 19 from injuring the surfaces of the inside of the plug cock while it is dropping into place. V

The construction shown in Fig. 3 is a conventional plug cock which closes off port 118 or, in the case of a three-way cook, it would close both ports, viz 118 and a similar port opposite to 118. The angle cock shown in Figure 3 will be closed off when port 118 only is closed.

- In Figure '5 there is-disclosed a modified form of my novel valve similar to that disclosed in Figure 2 except that thecasing 115 has a bar 30 made integral therewith. The bar 30 corresponds to the detachable bar shown between the inlet pipe 11 and the outlet pipe 13 in Figure 4 and serves to connect my novel shut-off valve with through union 31. Casing 115 may also have, if

desired, either integral therewith or attached thereto a cock casing 126 which has mounted therein a movable cock element 127, said movable element having at one end a washer 128 whichsecures it in position in the casing 126's'o that it is free to rotate. Bymeans of this cook the passage of gas to the heat responsive valve in casing ,115 may be cut off.

- Figure 6 shows a modified formof valve similar to that disclosed in Figure 3 and has a seat 125 opposite to seat-1 18 and serving to admit fluid tooutlet 117.

, In Figure 7 there-is shown yet another modified form of valve in which the casing 15 has a stud 99 as a part thereof. Stud 99 carries on itsouter surface screw threads or other detaching means 98 which serve to support the valve in place. In practice this modification is used by exposing the stud 99 to the heat of a boiler, water heater or other device in accordance with whose tempera- It will thus be seen that when stud 99 is exposed to a predetermined temperature heat is conductedto the fusible member 23 within the valve which melts or is sham and permits the movable element to close the valve.

I do not intend to be limited in the practice of my invention save as the scope of the prior art and of the attached claims may require.

I claim: 7

1. A gas meter fire valve including in combination a valve casing having a valve seat therein, a movable element normally suspended above said valve seat, a guide memberwithin said casing and passing through said movable element, and a fusible element supporting said movable element, and adapted upon being heated to cause said movable element to close against said valve seat.

2. A heat responsive shut-off valve including in combination a valve casing having ports therein, a movable element cooperating with one of said ports to open and close it, a fusible element retaining said movable element in valve open position, means on said movable element for holding a portion of said fusible element on at least two faces, and means carried by said casing for holding another portion of said fusible element on at least two faces.

3. A heat responsive shut-oif valve comprising a casing having a fluid way therein, a movable element tending to close-said fluid way, a perforated element adapted to soften under the infiuence of heat and interposed between a fixed portion carried by the casing and the movable element, means for clamping one rim ofsaid perforated element at both faces of the element in respect to said casing, and means for clamp ing the other rim of the element at both faces of the element in respect to the movable element. 4. A heat responsive shut-off valve including in combination a casing having an opening for the passage of gas therein, a movable element for closing said opening, a fusible element supporting said movable element, means on said casing for clamping a portion of said'fusible element on "at least two faces of said portion, and means on of said portion.

' 5.'A heat responsive shut off valve device for gas meters comprising in combination a valve casing having a stoppered opening and having an inlet gas way for the meter, a slidable valve body, a guide for the valve body, a fusible element supporting said valve and insertable and removvalve provided with a recess into which the fused element runs.

LUTHER D.- LOVEKIN;

able through the stoppered opening, and said- 

